The Perfect Fresh Blackberry Pie and Flaky Pie Crust

The other night my husband and I were over at our friends house, who used to live in Oregon, and if you know anything about Oregon you know that blackberries grow over there like a noxious weed! We got to talking about pies, sweets and yummy stuff and our friend said how good a blackberry pie would be, I think he misses his homeland ;) So yesterday while I was at a local farmers market buying produce, a lady came in with buckets of just picked fresh juicy blackberries! It was meant to be! They looked amazing and after thinking about that conversation with our friends and I just had to buy them and surprise them with a pie.

Just look at these beauties...

As soon as I got home I whipped up this pie and sent our friends a text with a picture telling them to come over and help us eat it! They were more than happy to oblige. I just love to make people smile and be happy, especially with food :)

Here's my recipe for yummy fresh blackberry pie filling, as well as a recipe for my yummy flaky pie crust.

Yield: Filling for a 9" pie

Berry filling:

Wash, clean and drain 2 pints of blackberries and put into a medium sized bowl

Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Add 1/4 cup light brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract

Add 3 1/2 tbsp corn starch

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice, approximately 1 tsp

Gently fold everything together until sugar is blended. There will still be some lumps but that's fine. Sit aside and work on the pie crust

Yield: Two 9" pie crusts, bottom and top

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Flaky pie crust:

Add 2 cups of all purpose flour to a large glass mixing bowl

Add 1 tsp salt

Cube 1/2 cup of salted butter & 1/2 cup Crisco shortening and add to flour mixture

Gently mix together with your finger tips until pea sized pieces are throughout. Be careful not to over mix, the less you handle the dough the more flaky and light your crust will be

Add 1/3 cup of ice cold water and mix until it comes together and you can form a ball

 Divide into two equal sized balls. Place one in the refrigerator while you are rolling out the other one. Flour your counter top and rolling pin and roll out dough until its about 11" round. I kind of pat mine down first to help shape it before rolling it out

Fold in half and place in pie plate. Make sure it's pressed lightly around the bottom edge of the pie plate and you have some crust hanging over the lip

 

Add the blackberry filling to bottom crust...yum

 Cube 1 tbsp butter and place on top of the filling

Take the other piece of dough from the refrigerator and roll out to 11" circle. Make a lattice by using a pizza cutter and cutting it into strips or you can leave it whole and just make sure to cute a few vent holes in the top

There are lots of great tutorials out there on how to make a lattice top, this is how I do mine

Cut off the excess dough around the sides and then pinch the sides to make it pretty or you can always use a fork for this too

Brush the top with a basting brush and some whipping cream so the crust browns up nicely. I also add a little bit granulated sugar to the top just for a little shimmer and crunch 

Place on a baking sheet, just in case it bubbles over a little bit like mine did. It's way easier to clean a baking sheet than the oven. Bake on 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375 degrees rotate the pie and bake for another 30-35 minutes

 Let it cool completely before cutting into it, try to resist, but if you can't, I won't tell anyone :)

Serve with some vanilla ice-cream and enjoy!

Ingredients: Blackberry filling

• 2 pints of fresh blackberries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon fresh juice

Ingredients: Flaky pie crust

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup salted butter + 1 tbsp
• 1/2 cup Crisco shortening
• 1/3 cup ice cold water
• Whipping cream (optional)
• 1 tsp granulated sugar (optional)

Directions: Blackberry filling

1. Wash, clean & drain 2 pints of blackberries and put into a medium sized bowl
2. Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3. Add 1/4 cup light brown sugar
4. Add 3 1/3 tbsp cornstarch
5. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract
6. Add 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
7. Gently fold everything together until sugar is blended. There will still be some lumps but that's fine. Sit aside and work on the pie crust.

Directions: Pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees 
2. Add 2 cups all purpose flour to large glass mixing bowl
3. Add 1 tsp salt
4. Add 1/2 cup salted butter
5. Add Crisco shortening
6. Gently mix together with your finger tips until pea sized pieces are throughout. Be careful not to over mix, the less you handle the dough the more flaky and light your crust will be 
7. Add 1/3 cup of ice cold water and mix until it comes together and you can form a ball
8. Divide into two equal sized balls. Place one in the refrigerator while you are rolling out the other one. Flour your counter top and rolling pin and roll out dough until its about 11" round. I kind of pat mine down first to help shape it before rolling it out 
9. Fold in half and place in pie plate. Make sure it's pressed lightly around the bottom edge of the pie plate
10. Add berry filling and top with 1 tbsp butter thats been cubed
11. Remove dough from fridge and roll out the top to 11" circle
12. Cut into strips for a lattice top, or leave whole and cut vent holes, and add to the top
13. Brush with a little whipping cream and sprinkle a little granulated sugar on the top (opt)
14. Place on a baking sheet
15. Bake 25 minutes on 400 degrees then turn down to 375 degrees rotate pie and bake an additional 30-35 minutes
16. Let it cool completely and serve with some vanilla ice-cream and enjoy!